Bennett University signs pact with edX to provide online courses

The tie-up was announced during the first meet of the recently formed International Advisory Council, comprising leading global educationists and industry leaders in Mumbai.ET Bureau | Updated: January 16, 2016, 09:39 IST

Bennett University, a Times Group initiative, and edX, the non-profit online learning initiative founded by Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), on Friday signed a collaborative agreement under which edX will be the preferred worldwide provider of massive open online courses (MOOCs) to Bennett University.

The tie-up was announced during the first meet of the recently formed International Advisory Council, comprising leading global educationists and industry leaders in Mumbai.

edX and Bennett University will work to develop a mutually agreeable plan for offering MOOCs to students as part of a blended curriculum through offline and online courses. edX will train the Bennett University faculty to create and host blended courses.

“We are delighted to announce this collaboration with edX and are confident that their expertise and global reach will greatly benefit Bennett University students. This is a milestone in the Indian education forum and I firmly believe the association with edX will assist graduating students to be industryready from day one,” said Vineet Jain, managing director, Bennett Coleman & Co Ltd (BCCL), and chancellor, Bennett University.

“At edX, we are committed to offering high quality education around the world and India is an important and growing market for us,” said Anant Agarwal, CEO, edX, and a professor at MIT.

“We are certain that with the lineage of the Times Group, Bennett University will be instrumental in extending learning opportunities to learners who lack access to education and high quality resources,” said Agarwal, who is also a member of the International Advisory Council of Bennett University.

Jain and Agarwal stressed on the growing need for innovative and international education standards in the country.

“Bennett University is launched by the Times of India group which is at the forefront of innovation in media business. We are very excited about this partnership because edX is among the best in the world in online education, so we want to continue this practice of innovation even in education,” said Jain.

Bennett University kicks off in July this year and is located in Greater Noida. The university will initially offer a BTech in engineering and an MBA in management. Over the next few years, it will expand to a comprehensive offering of undergraduate, post graduate and PhD programmes across engineering, media, law, design, architecture, liberal arts and applied sciences.